Fort McMurray climber scales building to help put out balcony fire

Dennis Kovtun · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 08, 2025 3:57 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

A Fort McMurray man's climbing skills helped prevention the day, erstwhile a occurrence broke retired connected the third-floor balcony of an flat gathering connected Canada Day. 

Neal Barry said he was driving erstwhile helium noticed a occurrence successful an apartment gathering successful the Gregoire neighbourhood of Fort McMurray. 

He pulled over, noticing immoderate commotion successful the area. 

Barry said helium spoke to a pistillate adjacent the gathering and could spot the third-floor balcony was connected fire. 

"We didn't perceive immoderate alarms. We didn't perceive immoderate mode for radical to beryllium alerted successful the building," helium said. 

"So, myself and her ran astir the gathering and tried to find a mode to to fto radical know. We knocked connected windows, tried to get to the beforehand door. We tried to find the occurrence extinguisher." 

Soon aft helium retrieved a occurrence extinguisher from a nonmigratory connected the 2nd floor. Then, helium hatched his plan. 

"I suggested climbing up and they tin propulsion maine the extinguisher and I could effort to enactment the the occurrence out," Barry said. 

Barry has been a climber since helium was 11, and his passionateness persisted into adulthood. He present co-owns a bouldering gym successful Fort McMurray. 

"I felt assured capable that I could bash it safely for myself and the insignificant hazard that I'd beryllium taking could person perchance helped a batch much successful different regards." 

He successfully climbed onto the third-floor balcony, which was covered successful "some flames," helium said. 

"I committed to the information that determination was a imaginable that I could get burned. So I tried to ascent up arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable and leap over." 

As helium climbed on the balcony, the idiosyncratic who lived successful the apartment came retired and realized what was happening. He assisted Barry successful putting retired the occurrence retired with buckets of water. 

When the exigency services yet arrived, the flames were wholly doused.  

In a quality release, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo said the fire was caused by "improperly extinguished smoking material."

The quality merchandise confirmed that aggregate 911 calls came successful conscionable earlier 4:30 p.m. connected July 1 astir an flat fire, and that a bystander had scaled the gathering and helped enactment retired the fire. 

Barry did prolong a insignificant pain connected his arm. No different injuries were reported, the RMWB said.  

Acting occurrence main Rob Van Hecke said successful a connection to CBC News that Barry's actions are appreciated, but the occurrence work doesn't encourage radical to instrumentality firefighting into their ain hands.